Efficient UTD representation for the collective radiation and surface fields produced by large conformal arrays on convex surfaces

A collective description of the radiation fields, as well as surface fields, that are excited by a large array conformal to a very large smooth, arbitrary convex metallic surface is obtained in terms of just a few uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) rays emanating from some interior and boundary points on the entire array aperture. The present solution provides efficient representation of the array fields, as well as useful physical insights into the array radiation and surface fields excitation mechanisms.